Medicine: Malpractice Nightmare

Take a neurosurgeon practicing in New York State in 1970 and making
$70,000 a year. He had to pay about $4,700 annually for malpractice
insurance, which protected him against lawsuits from dissatisfied
patients. Today the cost of that insurance is about $14,000. The
precipitous rise is not confined to New York. Across the U.S.,
insurance companies are hiking premiums* as more and more patients hale
doctors and medical institutions into courtand as juries increasingly
award damages in six-and seven-figure amounts.

The growing burden of malpractice insurance is already forcing a number
of doctors to retire early or consider moving to states where...